After Robert Kubica set the morning pace behind the wheel of AF Corse’s #83 Ferrari 499P Hypercar, Hartley, who jointly holds the record for the most FIA World Endurance Championship titles with team-mate Sébastien Buemi, lowered the benchmark by three-quarters-of-a-second to stop the clocks at a time of 3:26.246s in the afternoon. 

The New Zealander’s effort was 0.661s faster than the quickest lap at the test 12 months ago, posted by Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Kévin Estre, and he professed himself pleased with the work completed over the course of the day.

“It was very nice to be back in the GR010 around Le Mans,” enthused Hartley, who was second in the opening session. “Clearly the competition is fierce, but we had no major dramas and we’ve come away from the day with a good feeling.

“On long runs, I wouldn’t say we were the quickest car, so we’ve still got a bit of work to do, but I feel like we’re in the fight. Hopefully now we’ll get some good sleep over the next few nights to recharge and prepare for the big job that’s coming next week.” 

James Calado hauled the championship-leading #51 Ferrari up to second by the end of the day, just over half-a-second shy of Hartley’s best, with Kubica improving his time slightly in the afternoon to secure third overall. 

Mick Schumacher showed encouraging pace for Alpine Endurance Team in fourth, as the French outfit bids to banish the memories of a desperately disappointing home race 12 months ago – when both A424s retired due to turbo failure before the end of the sixth hour. Last year’s pole-sitter Estre made it five FIA WEC regulars at the sharp end in the #6 Porsche 963, with six different manufacturers winding up inside the final top ten.

The only major issue amongst the Hypercar ranks was a stoppage on-track for Sheldon van der Linde in the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 due to a mechanical problem, bringing out the red flag.

In LMGT3, Akkodis ASP Team continued its impressive recent form by outpacing all its rivals with its Lexus RC F GT3. José María López, who won Le Mans outright in 2021 with Toyota, ended up more than a second-and-a-half quicker than his nearest pursuer, as five of his six stablemates joined him in the top ten, including all three members of the #78 crew.

Alessio Rovera ran the Argentine closest for Vista AF Corse, while Finn Gehrsitz and Davide Rigon ensured both Lexuses and both Ferraris concluded the day within the top five.

The track action continues with FP1 at 14:00 CET on Wednesday, 11 June.